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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What claim is the narrator making by calling humans "lineal scions of the pansy" (332)?
(a) Plants and animals are just as valuable as humans.
(b) Pansies are more like humans than most people realize.
(c) Humans are the servants of nature.
(d) Humans and flowers are related through evolution.

2. What are the details about the iceman's sleeves and hat intended to convey?
(a) He is trying to show respect for Miss Coulson.
(b) He thinks that Miss Coulson may be in love with him.
(c) He is conceited and self-absorbed.
(d) He has lower-class manners.

3. What kind of clam is a "chowder-doomed clam" (332)?
(a) One that is destined to be eaten in soup.
(b) One that is personified as feeling worried.
(c) One that is poisonous to humans.
(d) One that is confused by its surroundings.

4. When "May holds up a chiding finger," (332), what is May's intention?
(a) To indicate the "first" of something.
(b) To scold.
(c) To indicate a pause.
(d) To indicate a direction.

5. How old is Mrs. Widdup?
(a) 49.
(b) 40.
(c) 30.
(d) 35.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Mr. Coulson call Mrs. Widdup when she starts talking about "ivy and hand-organs" (335)?

2. The narrator says,"Pixies and flibbertigibbits haunt the budding woods" (332). What is in the woods?

3. On page 334, the narrator refers to the "panoply" of Miss Coulson's "unthrilled bosom." What is the meaning of "panoply" in this context?

4. Which of the following literary techniques is used in the title "The Marry Month of May"?

5. The story opens with the word "prithee" (332). What does this word mean in this context?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens overnight that changes Mrs. Widdup and Mr. Coulson's fate?

2. When Mr. Coulson complains that no one in the house cares if he lives or dies, how does Mrs. Widdup's reply set the events of the story in motion?

3. When Mr. Coulson finally confesses his feelings to Mrs. Widdup, what drawback to himself does he acknowledge, and what advantage does he say balances this drawback out?

4. What is Miss Coulson's plan to head off her father's budding romance?

5. When Miss Coulson says that the supposedly chilly weather is "An instance...of winter lingering in the lap of spring," what double meaning does she have in mind? (335).

6. How does O. Henry characterize the month of May?

7. Explain the significance of the diction "foxy" to describe Mrs. Widdup (333).

8. Explain the technique at work in the sentences "Sparrows wrangled happily everywhere outdoors. Never trust May" (333).

9. What rhetorical purposes does O. Henry accomplish with his introduction of Mr. Coulson through a list of things that he "has," like gout, money, and a daughter?

10. How do words like "yaller" and "lawsy" in Mrs. Widdup's dialogue characterize her?

(see the answer keys)

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